CHARMED
"Doors Ajar"
by shel
© february 2006
disclaimer: the charmed ones, cole, and leo, and the rest of the cast of characters we've come to know and love, belong to spelling television, inc. and possible other copyright holders. i intended no true infringement on their copyrights; i only wanted to borrow these marvelous characters for a short time in my own scenarios and hopefully return them no worse for wear; the only things i've gained from this story are the satisfaction and pleasure of having written it and in knowing that others may have enjoyed it too…
rating: pg-13
summary: phoebe discovers a letter she'd never opened…
timeline: midway between the events of s8's 'last temptation of christy' and 'engaged and confused'…
archive: please don't without expressed permission…
notes: minor references to s4's 'we're off to see the wizard,' s7's 'seven year witch,' s5's 'sam I am,' and 'centennial charmed,' and s8's 'the lost picture show'…please let me know if you enjoyed my tale and why and, if not, why not…and, please, don't bother wasting your time or mine by sending any flames…
Part One
Phoebe nearly lost her grip on her phone as she dragged the last of her packed moving boxes to the foot of her new bed, "Sure you don't mind?"
"You're my sister, Pheebs, you don't have to be so formal," Piper's voice chastised. "If you want to come for dinner, just come."
"I know," Phoebe sighed as she lifted out a small keepsake box, "but part of this move involves gaining some privacy so I don't want to intrude on yours, especially since I've been whining so much about it lately."
"You haven't been whining," Piper argued.
"Please," Phoebe rolled her eyes and leaned back against her bed, "how could you not notice that every other sentence out of my mouth seemed to be 'I wish I was in my new apartment'?"
Piper didn't comment and Phoebe worried, "Hey, you still there?"
"It's gonna take us all some time with these new living arrangements," Piper softly replied, "including you."
"Yeah, well…" Phoebe removed a small worn teddy bear from the box, "Speaking of living arrangements, have Paige and Henry decided what they'll do yet?"
"No," Piper sighed, "but given that she already tends to spend the night at his place…"
"Maybe I should come back," Phoebe suggested. "You know just until it's saf--"
"Maybe you should be here by six-thirty," Piper interrupted, "so that you can -- oh, no!"
"What? Piper? Is it a demon?"
"Not unless you count a three-year old who decided to open up a bag of potato chips all by himself," Piper groaned. "No, sweetie, stay right where you are, Mommy will pick them up…"
"See you in a bit," Phoebe chuckled as she disconnected the call and tossed the phone onto the bed behind her.
She glanced at her watch and smirked, "I love living fifteen minutes from work." With nearly an hour until dinner, she had plenty of time to finish with this box. She pulled out a batch of videotapes and crawled over to the TV stand where she stacked them next to the DVDs already there. But, as she shifted them, an envelope slipped out.
Curious, she picked it up and turned it over. And then she gasped when she recognized the handwriting. And her mind frantically tried to recall when she had received the letter and why she hadn't opened it.
"I can't deal with this now," she suddenly decided. She reached up and placed the envelope on top of the TV and returned to her task of unpacking all the while refusing to acknowledge the sight of the envelope.
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"Earth to Phoebe…"
Startled, Phoebe glanced up from her dinner plate to find an amused look on her younger sister's face. "Hum?"
Piper, slightly more worried than Paige over her sister's distant mood, reminded her sister, "You just announced that Henry would be better off as a frog in a pond."
Phoebe looked from Piper to Paige, "Why would I say that?"
"Beats me," Henry shrugged. "All I said was that maybe we should stick to a small ceremony given what Paige's told me about weddings in this family."
Phoebe was still confused, "I thought we were talking about Wyatt's little escapade in the park."
"Honey, that was an hour ago," Paige nervously chuckled. "You okay?"
"You sure you're okay with me being here?" Billie piped up. "I mean I know I pretty much forced my way into your lives and now I'm living in your house," she focused on Phoebe, "in your room. And I know you're all still worried about Christy…maybe I should move back to the dorm until she's a little bit better."
"Don't be silly," Phoebe smiled, "we love having you around. You've helped us too, y'know…"
"That's right," Piper agreed with an encouraging smile of her own, "and you're welcome to stay as long as you need."
"Besides," Phoebe grinned, "it's not like you're replacing me. Um, she's not guys, right?"
"Not yet anyway," Piper teased before quickly assuring Billie, "I meant what I told you, it's just --"
"A sister-thing," Billie interrupted, smiling sadly, "I understand."
"Christy needs time to relearn what it means to be human but she'll be fine," Paige promised as she patted Billie's hand. "How can she not be when she's got you on her side to love her and support her?"
Piper kept her gaze on Phoebe who now looked about ready to cry. "Phoebe? Honey, did something happen at work?"
"Work was fine," Phoebe shrugged as she stood and carried her plate into the kitchen. "It's not a big deal."
"It is a big deal," Paige told her as she and Piper hurried after her older sister, "if you're distracted like this."
Phoebe rinsed her plate in the sink, "I shoved a lot of stuff into boxes in my rush to pack and I simply forgot."
Paige's eyebrow rose in concern, "I thought you'd unpacked everything the week you moved in?"
"Had one box left," Phoebe said as she returned to the dining room to clear off another dish.
"And what was in it?" Paige prompted as she followed Phoebe.
"Forgot what?" Piper loudly repeated while waiting for her sisters' return to the kitchen.
Billie quickly excused herself to return to her bedroom. "I think this's more of a sister-thing than witch-thing and I've got an eight-page paper due by the end of the week and I've barely started my research."
After a quick nod and unconvincing smile to Billie, Piper focused on Phoebe, "Phoebe…what's going on?"
"It's just a letter," Phoebe said as she tried to walk back to the dining room. But Paige blocked her way so she grinned, "If you'd rather clean off the table yourself, I won't stop you."
"You're avoiding the question," Henry observed.
"One of her more annoying traits," Piper explained.
"Hey!" Phoebe glared at her sisters before sighing, "Look, finding it caught me off-guard but I'm fine," she smiled, "honest."
"I can see your wisdom teeth," Paige accused.
"Huh?" Henry stepped away in time to avoid Phoebe plowing into him as she pushed past Paige, "Hey, Phoebe, I know I'm new to this family but I do care about you and maybe it'll help to have an objective person listen."
Phoebe gratefully patted him on the arm, "Thanks but --"
"C'mon, Pheebs," Paige interrupted with an appreciative nudge to her new fiancé, "maybe we can help."
"You can't," Phoebe shook her head, "not when I don't even -- Never mind."
As Phoebe went to retrieve her coat, Paige turned back to Piper who still stood in the doorway, "Are you just gonna let her go? Say something already."
"The letter's from Cole," Piper softly announced.
"How d'you know that?" Paige asked in surprise.
"Who's Cole?" Henry questioned simultaneously.
Piper's eyes widened, "You didn't tell him about Cole?"
"I want to marry him," Paige indicated to Henry, "not send him running!"
Just as Henry was about to ask again about this Cole, both sisters shook their heads, "Long story."
Piper headed for the hallway, "He's the only one who can still depress her like this."
Paige stopped in her tracks as she suddenly understood, "She loves him."
Piper turned around to face Paige, "I don't think she ever stopped." And she kept the rest of that thought to herself, that Cole never stopped loving Phoebe either.
"She was so angry with him," Paige reminded her, "so bitter and she changed because of him. You think she's feeling guilty now? What's in this letter?"
"I don't know anything about it," Piper declared, "but I know Phoebe. And I know that lately she's, mellowed, I guess, when it comes to Cole. C'mon, Paige, you've heard her mention him more often."
"I've never heard her," Henry piped up. "So who is he anyway?"
"Her ex-husband," Paige sighed before quickly cutting him off from asking more, "I'll explain later." She turned to Piper and argued, "Look, I know he was this big love of her life but he's gone, Piper. And she's moved on and she's much better off."
"What was he," Henry joked, "from the wrong side of the tracks?"
"Something like that," Piper murmured as her sister continued.
"We can't change what Cole did at the end or how he brought about his own vanquish but we can --"
"But he wasn't --" Piper cut herself short. Other than Leo, whom she'd sworn to secrecy, she hadn't told her sisters about Cole's involvement in her life and she wasn't sure it would be in anyone's best interest to confess now that Cole was still around. Instead, she darted towards the front door to stop Phoebe. "Don't leave…c'mon stay a while…"
Phoebe fought the tears as she kissed her sister's cheek, "Got an early meeting tomorrow. Thanks for dinner." She glanced past Piper and gave a small wave to Paige and Henry, "See ya guys later."
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